


The Bugs Among Us

by AlwaysandAlso



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Bugs & Insects, Descriptions of depression, Luke only appears briefly, M/M, Relationship is present but not the point of the story, Spiders
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 01:55:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27386791
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlwaysandAlso/pseuds/AlwaysandAlso
Summary: Ezra is friends with the spider outside his window.
Relationships: Ezra Bridger/Luke Skywalker
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	The Bugs Among Us

**Author's Note:**

> A short story about depression

Ezra is friends with the spider outside his window.

It was an unusual friendship to be sure, more like a partnership than anything else.

Ezra can't remember life before the spider entered his life, yet this is the first time the spider has built a spindly web so close to home.

The spider, fat and bulbous, built its web on the faded red brick of the house. Lazy web stretching from corner to corner, firmly sticking to it's surface.

It's eyes blinked in different patterns, none that would be recognizable to human eyes. It's jaw stretched open and closed at odd angles, almost as if it is eating something far larger than it can handle.

In the beginning, it's presence was not an expected, nor a welcome one. Not by Ezra, and certainly not by the others in the room.

"Look! Look!" Ms. Firefly yelled, "Look at that awful creature!" Little flashes of yellow light spiraling out of her abdomen like an alarm bell.

"It sits and stares and watches yet it doesn't speak!" 

"Must be an omen surely," reply's  
Mr. Grasshopper. "Though I've never seen one quite like this." 

"Perhaps it has friends?" The ants chime in, "many little friends with tiny spindly legs" 

"I haven't seen a thing," the stickbug speaks, "-it just sits there like me."

"Round and round we go! Won't this horror ever cease?" Cried Ms. Firefly "I refuse to let Ezra's light go! I refuse!"

She flies over and lands on Ezra's knee. He doesn't respond.

"I've been with his light ever since he was a child! I've been here the longest! 

"And the most annoying," the ants respond in harmony. "We've always been there for him, while you flutter about and cause panic"

"I do not!" Ms. Firefly sputtered. "I'm nearly here to help!"

The others look on with weariness. 

"I think we should just leave it be, it's not hurting anyone right?" The stick bug wiggles. 

"Fine! If you shall be so cold I'll shall protect us like I always do!" Ms. Firefly flutters.

The days pass by and the nights grow long before Ms. Firefly takes action. 

"Go away!" She yells at the dead of night. The window is slightly cracked open, allowing her to speak to the spider.

"I am Ezra's protector! You shall leave at once and never return!" The spider nearly blinks, flashing its numerous black eyes.

I am forever! I am words with out noise and actions with intentions! I am-" 

"Too Loud"

Ms.Firefly's light goes out. 

The spider is now inside.

\----------------------------------------------------

Nowhere in the contract did the spider dedicate its intentions, nor did Ezra ask. The spider knew what it was doing, he had no right to pry.

The other bugs in Ezra's room were never quite as peculiar as the spider, never asking the right questions.

Mr. Grasshopper was always pestering him. "Lad, what is the truth? You must always speak it!"

"I don't know the truth, will you tell me?" He would respond. 

Ezra doesn't know why the words suddenly have become so fuzzy, his brain is rotting. He doesn't understand.

"That is something you must discovered for yourself" Mr. grasshopper says. 

"Remember your connections! They will help you!" The colony of ants chime in.

"But they don't listen!" He grumbles. 

"Then find someone who does"

That turns out to be the spider.

"You can listen to me" it hums "I will never leave you" and Ezra believes it.

The ants disappear the following day, and the spider grows that much wider.

\---------------------------------------------------------

The stickbug ignores what goes on inside the room. He ignores the amount of trash that piles up. Unwashed clothes sit in the corner. The room is a mess.

"I don't see the big deal!" He exclaims.  
"So what if the spider is hanging out with Ezra, we deserve a break too!"

The stickbug ignores the absence of Ms.Firefly. The stickbug ignores the disappearance of the ants. The stickbug ignores the spider wrapping him in its web. After all the stickbug deserves a break, and the spider ensures that he gets a long one.

Mr. Grasshopper is all that remains.

Ezra spends more and more time in his room. He hasn't left it in days. The spider is the only one he talks to anyone despite Mr. Grasshoppers best efforts.

"Lad, the end of me is drawing near." 

"So is mine" Ezras eyes are glazed over.

"Before that happens you must search for your truth, your life. Will you promise me that? For old times sake?"

"I'll do my best." Ezra says, words ringing hollow. Neither of them acknowledge that.

The spider soon finds its prey and Ezra is all that remains.  
\---------------------------------------------------------

The spider won. But lately Ezra's been acting strange.

"Spider! I think I met someone!" He giggles, Ezra hasn't giggled in years.

"Why? You don't need anyone else but me."

"But he's so cute! Look!" Ezra shoves his phone out. A picture of a boy with soft blond hair and a blinding smile is displayed. "His name is Luke!"

"I bet he doesn't like you" the spider spins. "He talks behind your back."

"Maybe.." Ezra seems hesitant. "But I'd like to give him a shot"

"Anyway I have a date tonight with him! See you later!" Ezra bounds out of the room.

Ezra finds the spider dead on his nightstand that evening and swiftly sweeps it into the trash. 

"How did that get in your room?" Luke asks, his bright smiles makes Ezra swoon.

"I don't know!" He replies.

And Ezra is telling the truth.


End file.
